by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's and women's basketball teams return to Wilson following a brief road trip with a midweek conference matchup against Erskine College on Wednesday, February 18 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. in Wilson Gymnasium.
Barton sports information will provide live stats and video for both contests. Women's links: live stats l video Men's links: live stats l video
Barton basketball fans can follow the Bulldogs all season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Lady Bulldogs vs Erskine
After a 66-61 road loss to Converse College on Monday, the Lady Bulldogs (13-13, 12-7) conclude their regular season series with the Flying Fleet looking for their fifth win in the last six games. Barton is tied for third place in the league standings with Erskine, Belmont Abbey and Emmanuel (who is not eligible for postseason play) as the conference tournament draws near.
The Flying Fleet are 14-11 overall with a 12-7 mark in league play. Erskine has won three of its last four games, including an 80-62 victory over Converse last weekend on the road.
The Erskine College women's basketball team held Barton to just 19 first-half points and took advantage of numerous chances at the free throw line in claiming a 78-66 win over the Lady Bulldogs on December 6, 2014 in Due West, S.C.
Freshman Alexis Johnson led Barton with 14 points and also chipped in five rebounds and five steals. Sophomores Caila Carter and Shatisha Dukes each added 11 points, and senior Brianna Thomas pulled in a game-high nine rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs in the loss.
The Flying Fleet was paced by 20 points from sophomore Ashley Espinosa. Naomi Stuger and Marnasha Eugene came off the bench to add 12 and 10 points, respectively, and Andrienne Bannerman contributed eight rebounds and four blocks.
Erskine ranks second in the conference with 72 points per game on the offensive end, led by Espinosa with 14.4 points and per game and sophomore Kristin Giles who averages 10.6 points per contest. Senior Tara Potter shoots a league-high 55.4 percent from floor in averaging 10.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs average 65.2 points per game, while ranking fourth in scoring defense allowing 63.5 points and ranking second in the conference with 10.1 steals per game.
Senior Kaila Lea continues to pace Barton with 12.8 points per game and Thomas averages 10.6 points per game while leading the team with 7.5 rebounds and recording three straight double-doubles on the court.
Webster, who has averaged 15.3 points per game over her last four games, is the team's second-leading scorer with 11.1 points and a team-high 2.7 assists per game, while Dukes has risen her season averages to 8.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Bulldogs vs Erskine
The Barton men's basketball team (12-13, 8-9) has lost its last six games, including an 86-64 defeat at the hands of Pfeiffer University last weekend on the road.
The Bulldogs now face Erskine (9-16, 5-12) looking to avenge an 80-72 loss to the Flying Fleet on Dec. 6 in Due West. Erskine has lost its last five games and eight of the last 10, including an 88-50 loss to King University last weekend in Bristol, Tenn.
In the first meeting of the regular season, the Fleet shot 52 percent from the field (28 of 54) in the contest while holding Barton to just 35 percent (23 of 65). The disparity was even greater in the decisive second half, as BC made just 7 of 30 attempts from the floor (23 percent) while Erskine sank 10 of 19 (53 percent).
Erskine received an impressive performance from senior guard DeShaun Hall, who recorded game highs of 23 points, 11 rebounds and four steals. Sophomore guard Maurice Daniels Jr. added 19 points.
In the loss, freshman Danny Shand paced Barton with 12 points, while junior Jake Veasley and sophomore Daniel Westbrook each added 11. Khari Faison collected a team-high eight rebounds and also contributed nine points.
Barton's offense ranks third among Conference Carolinas schools, scoring 82.7 points per game and pulling down a league-high 41.6 rebounds per game. In contrast, the Flying Fleet average 64.4 points on 41.7 percent shooting from the floor while ranking third in the league in scoring defense, allowing 68.1 points per contest.
The Bulldog defense will be tasked with stopping one of the league's top freshman performers in Ray Lock who leads Erskine with 14.1 points on 51.1 percent shooting from the floor and 5.2 rebounds.
Hall averages 13.6 points of his own and ranking second in the conference with two steals per game, while Daniels totals nine points per game, shooting 35.6 percent from three-point range.
Barton's top scorers are Shand (16.3 points per game, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals) and Veasley (14.6 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 36.7 three-point percentage), who place sixth and eighth respectively in the individual points per game rankings within the conference.
Junior Dominique Byrd has increased his season averages to 9.6 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds per game, while Canoy chips in 8.2 points on 47.9 percent shooting from the floor and 4.9 rebounds of his own.
